The Mancation

by Erik Olsen on

Always on the lookout for the next great travel trend, I now offer you a link to a story with a term you may not have heard before: The Mancation. No, this is not the newest movie-related travel fad…not the Brokeback Mountain version on Da Vinci Code Tours, in other words. The idea here is that men sometimes like to take vacations with one another, and there is a cottage industry emerging that helps them do so by coordinating specific manly activities for them to enjoy.

Like what, you ask (as if you really had to ask)? Well, according to the article over at CNN they’re talking about trips that include a panoply of testosterone-laden features like hand-rolled cigars, fast cars, penthouse rooms, wet bars, and round-the-clock butler service. Conspicuously, there is no mentin of strippers. But hey, that doesn’t sound too bad. The Mancation concept appears geared towards bringing old college friends together to spend a few days away from the old ball and chain, as it were. To clarify further what needs no further clarification, the “Urban Dictionary” says that mancations include masculine activities such as sports, camping, gambling, chasing women and drinking, without the presence of wives, mistresses or girlfriends. In other words, they are basically saying bachelor parties are no longer for bachelors any more. Personally, I like the idea, very Robert Bly meets Vince Vaughn.

BT Blogger Blab Post Mortem

by Erik Olsen on

So the Budget Travel bloggers blab session went off last night smashingly. I have to say I was rather amazed by three things. 1) the BT folks actually sent a black sedan to pick me up (if you missed the somewhat intriguing irony here — BUDGET Travel — then, well, there, I just gave it to you…but let it NEVER be said that I won’t be picked up in a black sedan, unless you work for Tony Soprano or something; 2) the venue: it was held in the lovely uber-hip Tribeca Cinema with lights on the wall that said Budget Travel and a marquee and free drinks and teeny little cracker hors d’ovres with chicken that were simply divine; and finally 3) the audience. There must have been about a hundred people there, all of whom either came to listen to us or for free drinks and chicken cracker things. But the thought that anyone, let alone over a hundred people, would be interested to hear what a bunch of bloggers have to say is rather mind-blowing, I think, and a sign of the times that either a) bloggers are far more important than I imagine (entirely possible) or b) most people don’t really know what a blogger is, but they’ve read a lot about them and so came to satisfy their curiosity or c) this was really some awful psychology experiment orchestrated by some PhD students at Columbia to see how people who spend too much time in front of their computers actually react to being in front of a live audience. I only suspect that c) is the answer because I swear some of the people in the crowd held clipboards and I thought I could see the collar of a white lab coat beneath what they were wearing.

So, anyway ,you really want to know more than that don’t you? OK, the story is this: it was actually quite fun. Toastmaster extraordinaire and Editor-in-Chief Erik Torkells moderated the event looking very prim and businesslike in his finely tailored suit. I was actually surprised by how tall the guy is since the photo on the BT editor’s page is usually (unless he’s dressed as a cowboy) just a headshot. Also, it’s pronounced tor-KELLS not TOR-kells, which gives the name a bit of an Irish feel even though I have no idea if he’s irish, Norwegian or what. Anyway, there we were, the four of us – Mark G. Johnson of HotelChatter, Randy Petersen of InsideFlyer, and Joshua David Stein of Gridskipper….and Torkells asked us all sorts of questions about blogging and how/whether it’s going to replace real travel journalism (no) and how we find our stories (uh, mostly magazines, newspapers and other blogs), and whether we mind if PR people send us stuff (not really, unless it’s totally irrelevant to the blog…which about 70 percent are) and so on.

Of course, we fielded these questions with alacrity and wit, knocking out answers with the ease and fluidity of A-Rod during batting practice. I have to give props to Joshua Stein of Gridskipper for being the funniest one in the group and answering questions with a kind of jaded, sardonic aplomb that nicely complimented his disheveled appearance. The oddest, but most refreshing moment of the evening came when I was approached after the session by the two bloggers who write one of my favorite blogs on the Chelsea Hotel – Debbie and Ed. This charming couple had some lovely anecdotes about living in the Chelsea, which prompted me to immediately ask if I could come and shoot a story there…something I hope very much to do.

Anyway, this is becoming a rather too lengthy post, so I’ll bring it to a close here. I am going to write another post in a bit here about the dinner I had after the event, which, when it comes down to it, was the also a big highlight of the evening for me. I was invited to dine with one of my big time heroes of the travel world: Richard Bangs, who happened to be breezing through New York doing something for Mountain Travel Sobek. But more on that later.

(photos: Budget Travel Online – that, by the way, is me, looking a bit like I just finished my third martini (untrue) and am keeling over)

Vanity Fair on the National Parks

by Erik Olsen on

It has taken me FOREVER to get to this post. I read the article a while back and have been meaning to write about it ever since. First a personal blurb: my first real job in the big, bad, plastic world (after working as a ski photographer in Tahoe and a junior rafting guide in Colorado) was with the Department of the Interior in Washington DC. Don’t ask me how I ended up there. It a rather long, convoluted tale filled with romantic notions of helping the world and crushed ideals about how one can do this inside a government agency. No matter. The point of al this is that within the Interior Department lies what is probably the best agency in the federal government: The National Park Service. The NPS takes care of all of our nations great parks, from Yosemite to the Smokies, as well as gobfulls of various monuments, recreation areas, etc. In general, they do a fine job. If you’ve ever spent time in a National Park, you know that the rangers are a dedicated bunch and the care given to interpretation and preservation is, in general, worthy of high praise. But there are problems, and the park service has typically had some difficulties with funding and upkeep, especially <slight reveal of political slant> during Republican administrations </slight reveal of political slant>.

One of the big debates this time around is whether to allow certain motorized vehicles like ATVs and snowmobiles into the parks. traditionally, most parks have been off-limits to these folks. For good reason, IMHO. They are noisy, pollution causing and, if I may throw in yet another potentially incendiary over-generalization, demographically unpleasing. I’ll not expand on that remark, but suffice it to say the parks are probably better off without motorized vehicles roaming around them.

According to this nicely done article from Vanity Fair a while back, it seems lots of people agree with me. Sadly, among them is NOT the head of the Park Service, Paul Hoffman. The article pays out the issues involved and some of the passionate characters who are fighting behind he scenes to keep the parks motor-free. Check it out and weigh in, should you feel compelled.

GADLING’S TAKE FIVE: Week of September 3

by Adrienne Wilson on

Time for our weekly fav’s. Want to hear em’, here they go:

5. Passport Rules Changing:
This one was just posted today, but let’s just go over it once more – know the passport rules before getting to the airport. There are some small changes like needing a passport to get into Canada and others. With the changing times there are changing passport rules. Don’t be fooled my friends.

4. Salmon Festival:
Having just discovered all the amazing wonders found in a nice succulent piece of salmon over the last two years I was reeled into this Salmon Fest piece. If you’re heading northwest this year place this on your itinerary, radar or whatever. The event takes places September 28-October 1. Be sure to send some my way.

3. Museum Day:
Free admission into museums is blog worthy. So what if it only costs you $6-$10 dollars for entrance in the first place. A savvy traveler knows the wonders on saving an extra buck or two. On September 30 save some of that dinero when some 500 museums across America will waive admission fees.

2. Sagrada Familia: Construction Update:
These are the kinds of updates you may never find in your nice little guidebooks. Thanks to Iva and her watchful eye we discover that the never ending construction on Spain’s Sagrada Familia is still going on. Has that kept it from being one of Spain’s top visited attractions? Of course not, but the updates are always welcome!

1. Lifelist: Inca Trail:
Looks like Erik is reviving the Lifelist feature and I’m more than glad. To kick it off he goes into the How, When, Where, What and Why’s of visiting the Inca Trail and why (if it already isn’t) you might want to jot it onto your own Lifelist.

Photo of the Day (9/3/2006)

by Erik Olsen on

The slot canyons of the American Southwest have been photographed so many times that photos are almost a cliche. And let’s face it, I’ve never been one to pass up a good cliche.

So take a look at today’s photo from JasonBechtel, a lovely shot of a couple of horseback riders meandering through the slot canyons of Grand Staircase-Escalante park. Remember, too, that we select our Photos of the Day from the Gadling Flickr site, and anyone can contribute. We choose a new photo every day.